Colfax Village Board shelves idea on raze order for Felland house
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Felland house at 605 Pine Street has escaped a raze order — for now.
The Colfax Village Board discussed a recent inspection of the Felland house at the August 12 meeting, discussed plans with the house’s new owners, Nancy and Mark Mouledoux, and took no action on a potential raze order.
The inspector was at the property at 605 Pine Street on the Friday before the village board meeting, said Carrie Johnson, village administrator-clerk-treasurer.
The house at 605 Pine Street, known locally as the Felland house, was occupied by David Felland until shortly before his death on December 30, 2023, at the age of 96.
The house had previously been owned by Dr. O.M. Felland and Adina Felland, and in 1990, David Felland returned to Colfax to live in his childhood home.
David spent most of his adult life in Minneapolis.
Damage
The roof has settled, and there is some water damage on the interior. The inspector recommended further consultation with a contractor, Johnson told the village board.
The house was built in 1910 and some of the storm widows are missing or cracked. While the interior has some issues, the foundation is solid, she said.
The inspector said that if he owned the house, he would repair it, Johnson said.
A contractor should look at it, and then there would be a better idea of how to fix it, commented Gary Stene, village trustee.
Much of the report about the house is marked as functional, noted Carey Davis, village trustee.
State statute
Margaret Burcham, village trustee, asked about a village ordinance pertaining to issuing a raze order.
Section 15-1-6 of the village’s ordinances, “Unsafe Buildings,” states “Whenever the Building Inspector or Village Board find any building or part thereof within the Village to be, in their judgment, so old, dilapidated or out of repair as to be dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unfit for human occupancy or use and so that it would be unreasonable to repair the same, they shall order the owner to raze and remove such building or part thereof or, if it can be made safe by repairs, to repair and make safe and sanitary, or to raze and remove at the owner’s option. such order and proceedings shall be as provided in Sec. 66.05, Wis. Stats.”
The current state statutes under 66.05 are related to officers of a municipality and to employees of a municipality.
While the current village ordinances reference 66.05, the pertinent section of the statutes regarding the razing of buildings is 66.0413 (b), which mirrors the language stated in the village ordinances.
State statute 66.0413 (c) states, “Reasonableness of repair; presumption. Except as provided in subs. (3) and (5), if a municipal governing body, building inspector, or designated officer determines that the cost of repairs of a building described in par. (b)1 would exceed 50 percent of the assessed value of the building divided by the ratio of the assessed value to the recommended value as last published by the department of revenue for the municipality within which the building is located, the repairs are presumed unreasonable for purposes of par. (b)1.”
For example, if a house was assessed at $100,000, and the houses in Colfax were assessed at 90 percent of their market value as determined by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, the cut-off value for repair would be $50,000 divided by .90 or $45,000 for repairs.
As the village’s ordinance and the statute states, if the house can be repaired and made safe and sanitary, presumably at whatever cost, whether to raze the building or repair it can be left up to the owner.
Johnson referenced the current state statute and the repair cost of 50 percent to issue a raze order in response to Burcham’s question.
Anne Jenson, village trustee, said she was concerned about the roof settling and being compromised and that it would have to be taken off and replaced.
Clint Best, village trustee, said he was concerned about water damage in the floors and walls and whether there would be mold inside of the house.
Purchaser
Colfax resident Mark Mouledoux told the village board that he knew exactly what he had purchased.
The roof last had work done on it two years ago, although the people who had done the work did not do the best job, he said, noting that he is a contractor.
The timbers of the house are true and solid with no splintering, and the foundation is solid. There is no evidence of mold, Mouledoux said.
The purchase of the house was completed two days before the inspector came to inspect the house, he said, adding that he had not gone inside after purchase but before the inspector arrived so that no one could say he had tried to hide or change anything.
“It is a repairable place, and I want to bring it back to its glory,” Mouledoux said.
To date, Mouledoux said he has already repaired four properties in Colfax that are now “viable properties.”
“We are looking at it for our own residence,” he said.
The house is beautiful inside, even though it has been neglected. It was part of the Felland family for one hundred years, Mouledoux said, inviting village board members to come at any time to take a look at the house,
“This is what I do,” he said.
The interior of the house will have to be “taken down to the studs,” but the attic is open and the rafters are fully accessible, Mouledoux said.
Even though the wallpaper in the living room is water damaged, there is no mold visible, he said.
“I cannot imagine there is no mold,” Jenson commented.
Could the house be placed on the historical register? Davis asked.
Mouledoux said he supposed the house could be part of the historical register
The Felland house would not be a “flip” house, Mouledoux said.
Mouledoux noted that he had also purchased Dr. Larry Phillips’ dental office building and the “fix-it” shop across the street and had offered both buildings to the village for the same price at which he had purchased them, with the idea that the fix-it shop building could have been useful to the police department.
“Give me a chance to do something with place,” Mouledoux said.
Colfax Police Chief William Anderson had brought the idea to the village board of using the Phillips’ building for the police department so that the village clerk’s office could move to the police department.
Moving the village clerk’s office would open up more space for the library, which is woefully undersized for the number of patrons served.
A space needs study conducted 25 years ago indicated that the library should be five times its current size.
The village board was not interested in purchasing the Phillips building for the police department and subsequently suggested that the police department could move to the Department of Public Works building on Railroad Avenue after more remodeling had been done on the building.
Neighbor
Colfax resident Jason Johnson said he had lived across from the Felland house for more than 10 years.
Johnson said he was concerned about the amount of time it would take to repair the house, was concerned about the feasibility of fixing the house, and was concerned that in its present state, it would lower the value of his own property.
The lot is full of weeds, he said, adding that he hoped Mouledoux would not rent out the Felland house.
“I want something positive to happen,” Johnson said.
Mouledoux said he was always “meticulous in the work” that he did, and that he could not put an exact timeline on how long it would take to fix the house, estimating the work could be finished in 18 months.
The fix-it shop was remodeled in 118 days, and has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, he noted.
In response to a question about the zoning of the fix-it shop, Mouledoux said it was zoned for both residential and commercial.
Mouledoux said he already had the names of people who would haul items out of the yard at the Felland house.
“We are the owners now, so we can do the work,” he said.
The yard actually has five cars there all together, and “it will be a process,” Mouledoux said, adding that in spite of rumors floating around town, his property business has been a limited liability corporation (LLC) since 2015.
“The game plan is to fix the house and live there,” he said.
Stene asked about the possibility of asbestos in the house.
Under current regulations, as a homeowner, nothing is required to be done with asbestos. It can be encapsulated, and spray painting is considered as encapsulating asbestos, Mouledoux said.
If there is asbestos in the house that is loose, it will be taken care of and disposed of properly, he said.
The inspector said the foundation is solid, and if he owned the house, he would repair it, said Jeff Prince, village president.
“Yes,” Carrie Johnson replied.
The village board decided to take no action on the house at 605 Pine Street.
Oak and Balsam
In additional business, the Colfax Village Board approved pay request No. 2 for Skid Steer Guy LLC in the amount of $284,944.50 for the work on Balsam Street and Oak Street.
The work on the street projects has been delayed because of the unanticipated extra time it took for the manholes to be manufactured and because of rain delays.
Stene commented that he had not realized before this that manholes must be tailored to a specific street project.
Rand Bates, director of public works, noted that the village also had requested extra work on First Avenue that was only discovered to be necessary after the work on Balsam Street had started.
Davis suggested that the village subtract a certain amount from the contract since the street work had not been finished by the time specified in the contract.
Bates said he would not be comfortable with subtracting money from the contract since the village had asked for extra work that was not in the contract, and Skid Steer Guy had readily agreed to the work.
The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved the pay request.
Village Trustee Jen Rud was absent from the meeting.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Village Board:
• Discussed the employee holiday schedule for 2025 and approved a motion to put the item on the agenda for the next meeting as an action item.
• Discussed the village’s policy on rental of public property. Stene said he was proposing a change to the policy allowing the village board to waive any fees for non-profit organizations but that non-secular organizations should pay a rental fee so the village board does not give the appearance of supporting a particular religion. Making the distinction was important, Stene said, to uphold the separation of church and state. Village board members agreed to put the item on the agenda for the next meeting.
• Approved a pay request from Robert Kelsall in the amount of $159 for the national registry for advanced Emergency Medical Technician. The village has a policy for all village employees that if the village pays for training, or in this case, a listing with the national registry, and the employee leaves employment with the village within two years, the employee must pay back the money spent by the village. Carrie Johnson noted that Kelsall had passed all his exams and only the listing on the national registry remained.
